Sunday commuting

I enjoyed my early Sunday morning drive to St MaryChurch to celebrate and preach. My usual route via Llanbleddian threatened to be blocked off by road resurfacing work, so I took the narrower road running direct from Saint Hilary, and was thrilled by the view south on the descent. The hilltop village with its church and circular 'Llan' at the centre is hidden entirely by trees on the north side, so all you can see is the timeless patchwork of fields and hedgerows. Next time I must stop and photograph this lovely panorama. This time I was nervous about losing my way or encountering a hidden diversion, so I didn't stop.

Fortunately I found the road had been re-opened after all and was able to use it to drive into Cowbridge for my third Sunday service there this month - a family Eucharist, with youngsters reading, and some cheery hymns to move about to. For once I preached without a script, and managed to contain myself without dragging on for too long, and I really enjoyed the good humoured interaction I had with the congregation. Then it was back home for a family lunch, before saying goodbye to Kath and Rhiannon, returning to Kenilworth to get ready for another week of work and school.

I took an afternoon nap and then had a damp dark drive to Flemingston to celebrate and preach at an evening Eucharist. The car grumbled unusually at splashing through lots of water on the ground once on the way there and once on the way back, but thankfully it didn't let me down on the five miles or so of unlit narrow lanes I had to drive to get back on the A48 road to Cardiff at Bonvilston. I met just one car in this deserted section, and banished all thought of a breakdown and being stuck out in the countryside, trusting in vintage VW engineering and Providence at the same time, while listening to an interesting CD of Flamenco and Arabic fusion music. I was glad to get home again and relax after an enjoyable, if demanding day. Little Jasmine was still settling down to sleep, after a weekend excursion to Brighton with her Daddy to see her step-brothers.